School closing confusion
by Joy Ugi
Issue date: 2/22/10 Section: News
On Feb. 15, Zach Petersen woke up to shouting in the hallways of Purcell dorm. Students were excited about what they thought was a canceled school day.
Petersen says it was 12 a.m. when he turned on his TV to Fox Five Atlanta news and read Piedmont College was closed for the day.
"Pretty much my whole hall saw it," says Petersen.
But Dr. James Mellichamp, provost, didn't see it. In fact, Mellichamp is the person solely in charge of telling the news station the college will be closed. He does this by entering an ID and password into an automated telephone system to which only he has access.
Mellichamp says he didn't call the station to report a closing on Monday. The last time he entered an ID and password was on Saturday morning. The system at Fox Five requires users to enter closings d on a day-to-day basis.
Despite Mellichamp only reporting a closing on Saturday morning, some students told him that they saw a closing on Sunday as well. He says students probably thought the college was closed on Monday because of the false closing report on Sunday carried over from the day before.
The spokeswoman at the Fox Five news desk says there is no way for the station to go back in the system and check what closing announcements were run on what days.
She confirms that an authorized user must call and enter a valid ID and password to report a closing. She also says no one had inquired about the issue besides the Navigator.
Mellichamp told faculty in an e-mail that "the absences will count as unexcused unless someone can provide evidence [that Fox Five ran a closing announcement] to the contrary."
Since Petersen thought Piedmont was closed, he missed some of his classes. He only realized this wasn't true when a friend who was getting ready for class told him. This will still be counted against Petersen in class absences.
Mellichamp says there is no time limit for students to apply to the dean of their school to have absences revoked in special cases such as this one.
Students can check for school closings on Piedmont's home page at www.piedmont.edu.
Petersen says it was 12 a.m. when he turned on his TV to Fox Five Atlanta news and read Piedmont College was closed for the day.
"Pretty much my whole hall saw it," says Petersen.
But Dr. James Mellichamp, provost, didn't see it. In fact, Mellichamp is the person solely in charge of telling the news station the college will be closed. He does this by entering an ID and password into an automated telephone system to which only he has access.
Mellichamp says he didn't call the station to report a closing on Monday. The last time he entered an ID and password was on Saturday morning. The system at Fox Five requires users to enter closings d on a day-to-day basis.
Despite Mellichamp only reporting a closing on Saturday morning, some students told him that they saw a closing on Sunday as well. He says students probably thought the college was closed on Monday because of the false closing report on Sunday carried over from the day before.
The spokeswoman at the Fox Five news desk says there is no way for the station to go back in the system and check what closing announcements were run on what days.
She confirms that an authorized user must call and enter a valid ID and password to report a closing. She also says no one had inquired about the issue besides the Navigator.
Mellichamp told faculty in an e-mail that "the absences will count as unexcused unless someone can provide evidence [that Fox Five ran a closing announcement] to the contrary."
Since Petersen thought Piedmont was closed, he missed some of his classes. He only realized this wasn't true when a friend who was getting ready for class told him. This will still be counted against Petersen in class absences.
Mellichamp says there is no time limit for students to apply to the dean of their school to have absences revoked in special cases such as this one.
Students can check for school closings on Piedmont's home page at www.piedmont.edu.
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